Why Get Blockchain Certified

Just a few days ago I was in a meeting with my boss and to my surprise, the other party, a large MNC (sorry I can’t say who), requested us to train and certify all their 221 staff from 13 divisions in blockchain.

Oh wow! I’m still trying to grasp the magnitude of the task. 🙂 But common on! If this is not proving the demand for certified experts then I don’t know what is.

“Salary offered to a blockchain techie with just five years of experience is almost at a par with that of a general manager in a bank with three decades of experience,” said Lohit Bhatia, chief executive, staffing, IKYA Human Capital Solutions, an HR solutions provider.

IKYA currently has 20 blockchain search mandates from banks and NBFCs.

Apparently, ICICI Bank currently uses blockchain for both domestic trade and remittances transactions. This is being scaled up quite a bit in the last several months. According to TK Srirang (Head of Human Resources, ICICI Bank), said…

“Since blockchain is an emerging area both in terms of practice and availability of skill, capability and skilling are largely being developed in-house through continuous training and global exposure in this space.”

The main areas or industries that are willing to pay such high salaries also vary. Banking and finance taking the top spot for highest investments put forth. Other industries such as shipping, rights management and health aren’t taking a back seat either.

Blockchain as a service (BAAS) is also being offered by IBM and ConsenSys. Banks are directly working with home loan and mortgage departments to place the entire home mortgage loan process onto the blockhain via smart contracts to eliminate fraud and increase processing time. Right now, a few banks in it have brought the entire mortgage process down to few hours compared to weeks.

Other areas using blockchain is the hospitality and entertainment industries, where they have begun tracking hotel reservations, travel agents, hotel bookings. Even the shipping industry is not being spared with large cargo shipments being recorded and tracked using blockchain.

Blockchain is certainly at the forefront of fourth industrial revolution or better known as Industry 4.0. Decentralized applications and smart contracts will probably someday replace a lot of key staff and therefore job seekers must embrace and get prepared.

Where are the jobs?

If you searched the term “blockchain” on Indeed.com, you’ll find close to 50 open positions that need to be filled in Malaysia right now!

In Singapore, blockchain related vacancies are hitting close to 270. In Indonesia they need close to twenty blockchain experts. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, honestly. In time to come, there are going to be more and more companies seeking ‘blockchain developers’ and blockchain experts to fill in various positions within the organization.

DID YOU KNOW?The average salary of a blockchain engineer in Silicon Valley is $158,000, programmers who have experience in Solidity (language for creating smart contracts) is in short supply and high demand. (Source:Forbes.com)

According to Computerworld, last year 2018, ‘blockchain developer’ topped LinkedIn’s published list of the top 5 emerging careers.

But here is the thing, you don’t need to be a techie to get involved in this space. Non-tech workers are now required to understand basic blockchain functions such as the role of smart contracts in executing business functions, cryptography in providing security, and mining in transaction processing. As a marketer, you should aim to understand what is token economics and how incentivization and rewards work. You should learn what are DApps and how they work.

Aim to get certified!

There are many paths and places one can go to get blockchain certified. Choose the paths easiest and most convenient to you. If you prefer classroom training, you should probably checkout Blockchain Academy’s Certified Blockchain Technologist (CBT) course. It’s one of our top selling courses. It’s an all rounder, well prepared certification course, taught by an industry expert. This course is not only preferred by bankers, even some of the top tech companies i.e MOLPay, Maxis and Lenovo have subscribed.

If you’re not the type to sit in classroom for 16-hours and prefer a more self-paced approach, try the Blockchain 101 course. For a limited time the enrollment fees has been waived so yeah, you get to enroll for free. It’s a 4-week program but you could fast track and finish it within 3-hours if you wanted to. The course is comprehensive and delves deep into the fundamental of blockchain tech and goes in deep on smart contracts with a focus on IBM’s Hyperledger. Online courses make it easy to become “blockchain certified,” while setting flexible study times.

Last but not least, aim to get the certification upon completion of the course. There are just a few questions at the end of each module and so long as you get 70% of the answers correct, you’re eligible for certification.

Blockchain Academy Plt has been serving local and foreign talent in blockchain, smart contract and fintech related training since 2016. Some of the top executives in banks and government ministries have been trained and certified by Blockchain Academy.

IMPORTANT: There seems to be several illegal companies using the name “blockchain academy” and are operating on the Malaysian shores. We have alerted the authorities. Some have heeded the notices and closed down but several others are still operating.

Blockchain Academy Plt. holds the sole rights to the name ‘Blockchain Academy’ in Malaysia and we are the only academy registered and trademarked by MYIPO. We only have ONE office which is based in Kuala Lumpur. Our official address is Level 23, Unit 5, Menara Bangkok Bank, Berjaya Central Park, Jalan Ampang 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Our official phone number is +603 2181 9700. Learn more about us and our trademark validation.

Christine recently completed her masters degree from Curtin University, majoring in Computer Science. She has a strong passion for distributed technology, hence learned everything about blockchain and cryptocurrencies. She regularly contributes her thoughts and findings in our blog. Share your thoughts with her or just say 'hi!' in the comments section below.